James h



i @with ft @anni @mm JAMES H. VAN HOUTEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., lASSIGNOR TO NOAH W.

KING AND ALBERT OASWELL, OF SAME PLAGE.

vLetters Patent No. 69,595, detect October 8, 1857.

IMPROVED BURIAL-CASE. l

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY OONCERN:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. VAN HOUTEN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and improvedDecay-Proof Burial-Casket; and that the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, hereinafter' referred to, forms a full and exact spcciiieation of the same, wherein have set forth the natureand principles of my said improvements, by which my invention may he distinguished from all others of a similar class, together with such parts as I e1aim,nnd desire to have secured to me by vLetters Patent.

This invention consists in a no vel manner of constructing a burial-case or casket, whereby the same, when closed up with a human body within it, may hc rendered perfectly air-tight, and admit of gases being introduced to prevent the decay of the remains,

The invention further consists in the employment or use of a slide on which the body'or corpse is placed, and secured by straps or springs, the slide being arranged and secured in position, when inserted in the caseor basket, in such a manner as to prevent the displacement of the remains or corpse in movingrth'e case or casket. l

The invention also consists in the employment or use of plugs or screws insertedvin the head and foot ends of the case or casket for the purpose of facilitating the injection of gas into the'case or casket, and the expul sion'of atmospheric air therefrom.v In the accompanying sheet of drawings Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of my invention, taken in the line x m, lig. 2.

Figure 2, a transverse vertical section of the same, taken in the line y y, fig. l.

Figure 3, a detached plan or top view of a slide pertaining to thesnme.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.. Y

The case or casket is composed of two transverse parts, A B, connected together by a screw joint, a. The part B is Vmuch longer than the part A, and receives the greater portion of the body, `the head and neck being contained within the part A, as shown clearly in g. 1. These parts A B may be constructed of metal, wrought or cast, or they may be of wood, or any other suitable material. Sheet metal, however, will probably he genorally used', and the male and female screw maybe spun on the abutting ends of the parts A B, or they may be of cast iron, and secured to said ends of A B. .The former plan will probably be adopted. -At the bottom of the part B of the case or casket there is a. shallow chamber, C, which is filled witheharcoal, and D is a. slide, which maybe of wood or metal, and has a lip or projection, b, to fit into a loop, c,on the top of the chamber C, while its end into tits into a loop, c', at theinner end of the top of the chamber, to keep the slide D in place. This' slide isv somewhatA longer than the part B of the case er casket, so that it will extend into the part A, and it may have straps or springs dattached to it, in order lthat the corpse maybeseenred upon it. By means of this slide it will be seen that a corpse'may be readily placed in the case or casket, and prevented .from being displaced by the moving ot' -the same. It will be understood that 'the slide D, when the part A is unscrewed from B, 'is withdrawn from B, lthe corpse secured upon the slide, and the latter, with the corpse, inserted in the case or casket, and the part A then screwed into the part B, a, cement vcomposed of a.mixture of white and red lead being used to insure an air-tight joint. Other eements, however, might bensed for this purpose. In'the'head and foot ends of the case or casket there are inserted plugs or screws c c, which are withdrawn after the corpseis adjusted in the case or casket, and sulphurous gas is injected through one of the openings, which drives the atmospheric air out through the other opening, and when the case orcasket is fully charged with the gas the plugs are replaced and made perfectly tight by means ot' any suitable cement. The sulphurous gas preserves the remains, but other gases would answer, such, for instance, asvchlorine gas; The charcoal serves as an absorbent, the .top ot" the chamber being perforated, as shown at f, in order that vthe gas may come in contact with the charcoal, as well` as any liquids which may pass from the remains.

This invention has been practically tested, and has been found to keep the remains in perfect preservation. A corpse may be kept an indefinitel period, in fact, so long as the case orcasket remains air-tight. It dispenses with the use of ice, and also with embalming, modes of preservation which are repugnant to the feelings of many hut which have hitherto been a necessity when remains were to be kept to be viewed by relatives, and friends from a distance, or when the character of the disease of which they lied induced immediate decomposition.

In consequence of having a casket constructed of transverse parts, a joint is obtained whichinay be readily made air-tight. Alongitudinal join-t extending all around the Case or casket like those of ordinary construction cannot be made air-tight, as the joint has a great surface, and it is almost impossible to obtain perfectly-fitting edges over such a great extent of joint surface.

Having thus described my invention, claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A burial-ease or Casket Compo-sed of two transverse parts, A B, connected together by a screw, substani tially in the manner as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The slide D, in connection with the ease or casket, constructed substantially as described.

3. The combination of the plugs c e with the burial-ease A B and slide D, the whole made substantially ns and for the purpose shown and'set forth.

JAMES Il. VAN HOUTEN. Witnesses:

WM. F. MeNAMARA,

JAMES H. GniDLEY. 

